Monday, August 17, 2009

Good News, Bad News

After yesterday's election, Senorita Mercedes asked us to go with her to meet with the gerente of infrastructure at the municipality today. The municipality has promised to improve the infrastructure of the market but no progress has been made. Even though, we aren't directly involved in this effort, I felt it was important to show the artisans we are committed to supporting them. Since all Mercedes asked was for us to attend, I was happy to oblige.

I also asked Pilar to attend since she is the association's newly-elected city representative. I was happy to see both Pilar and Mercedes waiting outside the municipal building when we arrived at 10am. It's very common to wait over half-an-hour for a meeting you've set up, and not unlikely that the meeting won't happen at all.

I really appreciate Mercedes' motivation to improve the market itself and Pilar's commitment to her new position.

However, both Mercedes and Pilar are part of the group leaving for the fair in Ecuador next Sunday. It's not unreasonable that would want to travel to sell their products since the local market is so weak. Unfortunately, this throws a wrench in our plans to offer workshops, since the most motivated artisans are the ones who will be traveling. Hopefully, we'll be able to generate enough interest in the workshops and they'll jump in when they return in mid-September.

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